Chawton House Garden Festival

Join Anita from Hampshire Hawk Walks as she brings her hawks to admire and hosts a series of ferret racing.  

Find Chief Executive and curator of ‘Botanical Women’ in the Library, where the exhibition has been revived to celebrate the Garden Festival. Themed around roses, see beautiful botanical watercolours and discover tales of horticultural heroines.  

Enjoy playing traditional English garden games on the lawn, all handcrafted and full of quaint enjoyment! 

Want to know how cider is made? Watch the makers of Chawton House’s own cider demonstrate the early process with their apple press.  

Take your kids to this drop-in session for a hands-on experience planting their very own seeds! We have morning glory, cardoon and seeds from the Chawton House Gardens to plant. Take your plant pot home with you afterwards. 

The Petersfield Beekeeping Society will have a bee observation hive for visitors to safely get up close to our buzzing friends! Spot the queen and busy workers. Hive produce is for sale and candle rolling 

Using objects from the Knight family collection, House Historian Martin Caddick leads visitors through the history of the Chawton estate. A deep dive into the people who lived here and their impact on the Gardens over the centuries. 

Explore the beautiful grounds of Chawton House with your knowledgeable guide, taking in the wilderness, Walled Garden and stunning views over the Parkland. Discover the history of the Gardens and how changing fashions and tastes developed from a formal layout to the English Landscape style. 

Take part in this creative writing workshop that encourages you to take inspiration from your outside surroundings. Through guided activities and prompts, participants will explore the beauty, symbolism, and metaphorical possibilities of gardens, nurturing their inner creativity and finding solace in the process.  

Billiards Room (if raining) 

Discover Chawton House’s unique herb garden, named for and inspired by Elizabeth Blackwell, who against extraordinary odds produced a herbal in the eighteenth century. 

Try before you buy! Chawton House’s delicious cider made from the apples in the Walled Garden 

Enjoy Chawton House Gardens during the evening’s golden hours. Order refreshing drinks from the Old Kitchen Tearoom to enjoy on the lawn or stroll amongst the roses in the Walled Garden. 

The Petersfield Beekeeping Society will have a bee observation hive for visitors to safely get up close to our buzzing friends! Spot the queen and busy workers. Hive produce is for sale and candle rolling 

On sale for remarkable value, a selection of gardening and horticultural second-hand books. All proceeds support Chawton House. 

Watch this traditional woodland activity take place within Chawton House’s Wilderness. Members of the estate team will safely demonstrate the charcoal burning process 

Find Chief Executive and curator of ‘Botanical Women’ in the Library, where the exhibition has been revived to celebrate the Garden Festival. Themed around roses, see beautiful botanical watercolours and discover tales of horticultural heroines.  

Want to know how cider is made? Watch the makers of Chawton House’s own cider demonstrate the early process with their apple press.  

Learn more about the Austen and Knight family, and their role in the garden changes. See how garden references in Jane Austen’s novels are reflected in the horticultural setting, which she knew and loved so well. *Please note, as part of Regency Week this tour costs an extra charge of £8pp. 

Take your kids to this drop-in session for a hands-on experience planting their very own seeds! We have morning glory, cardoon and seeds from the Chawton House Gardens to plant. Take your plant pot home with you afterwards. 

Shop a selection of plants themed to parts of Chawton House’s Gardens. Some we are growing now, others were done so historically in Jane Austen’s day. Bring your seeds and find something new to plant in your garden as well! 

Want to know more about what “grows on” in Chawton House’s Gardens? Or perhaps you are curious about the grounds extensive history. Ask our Head Gardener Julia at this drop-in Q&A session. 

Take part in this creative writing workshop that encourages you to take inspiration from your outside surroundings. Through guided activities and prompts, participants will explore the beauty, symbolism, and metaphorical possibilities of gardens, nurturing their inner creativity and finding solace in the process.  

Discover Chawton House’s unique herb garden, named for and inspired by Elizabeth Blackwell, who against extraordinary odds produced a herbal in the eighteenth century. 

Try before you buy! Chawton House’s delicious cider made from the apples in the Walled Garden 

Enjoy Chawton House Gardens during the evening’s golden hours. Sample some of the Old Kitchen Tearoom fare on the lawn or stroll amongst the roses in the Walled Garden.